{"id":"CVE-2024-38202","aliases":["EUVD-2024-37170","GHSA-gw56-mg6j-26qj"],"status":"published","title":"Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","description":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.\nDetails\nA security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:U/RC:C","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.01678,"percentile":0.77101,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-284"],"published":"2024-08-08T01:59:34Z","modified":"2026-06-17T07:39:40Z","products":[{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1607"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1809"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 21h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 22h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 11 version 21h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 11 version 22h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 11 version 22h3"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 11 version 23h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2016"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2016 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2019"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2019 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2022"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2022, 23h2 edition (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_10_1607"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_10_1809"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_10_21h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_10_22h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_11_21h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_11_22h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_11_23h2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2016"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2019"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2022"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2022_23h2"}],"references":[{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202","tags":["vendor-advisory","Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2024-38202-potential-elevation-of-privilege-vulnerability-in-windows-backup-detection-script"},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2024-38202-potential-elevation-of-privilege-vulnerability-in-windows-backup-mitigation-script"},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38202"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gw56-mg6j-26qj"}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2024-38202","title":"Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","description":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.\nDetails\nA security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202","status":"published","published":"2024-08-08T01:59:34.177Z","modified":"2025-07-10T16:33:56.578Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:U/RC:C","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-284"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:34:16.007021Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2024-37170","description":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.\nDetails\nA security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202","status":"published","published":"2024-08-08T01:59:34Z","modified":"2025-07-10T16:33:56Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:U/RC:C","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T20:32:09.615515Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-gw56-mg6j-26qj","title":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows...","description":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Backup, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.\nMicrosoft is developing a security update to mitigate this threat, but it is not yet available. Guidance to help customers reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems until the mitigation is available in a Windows security update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE.\nThis CVE will be updated, and customers will be notified when the official mitigation is available in a Windows security update. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert when this update occurs.\nDetails\nA security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Backup potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.\nMicrosoft is developing a security update that will mitigate this vulnerability, but it is not yet available. This CVE will be updated with new information and links to the security updates once available. We highly encourage customers subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to be alerted of updates. See Microsoft Technical Security Notifications and Security Update Guide Notification System News: Create your profile now – Microsoft Security Response Center.\nMicrosoft is not aware of any attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, a public presentation regarding this vulnerability was hosted at BlackHat on August 7, 2024. The presentation was appropriately coordinated with Microsoft but may change the threat landscape. Customers concerned with these risks should reference the guidance provided in the Recommended Actions section to protect their systems.\nRecommended Actions\nThe following recommendations do not mitigate the vulnerability but can be used to reduce the risk of exploitation until the security update is available.\n\nAudit users with permission to perform Backup and Restore operations to ensure only the appropriate users can perform these operations.\n\nAudit: Audit the use of Backup and Restore privilege (Windows 10) - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn\n\n\nImplement an Access Control List or Discretionary Access Control Lists to restrict the access or modification of Backup files and perform Restore operations to appropriate users, for example administrators only.\n\nAccess Control overview | Microsoft Learn\nDiscretionary Access Control Lists (DACL)\n\n\nAuditing sensitive privileges used to identify access, modification, or replacement of Backup related files could help indicate attempts to exploit this vulnerability.\n\nAudit Sensitive Privilege Use - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn","status":"published","published":"2024-08-08T03:30:49Z","modified":"2025-04-16T18:32:50Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-284"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:01:35.927372Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2024-38202","description":"Summary\nMicrosoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.\nDetails\nA security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.\nMicrosoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. Note: Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.\nIf there are any further... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202","status":"published","published":"2024-08-08T02:15:38.18Z","modified":"2026-06-17T07:39:40.617Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-284"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:10:17.832118Z"}]}}